With the smash success of **The Conjuring **last year, New Line has been acting quickly to capitalise on the terrifying joy generated by James Wan’s chiller. The sequel has been in development since even before the movie arrived, and Variety now reports that stars Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga are officially back on board, with a release date currently slated for October 2015.
About the only other detail locked in right now is the return of writers Chad and Carey Hayes to write the script, dipping once more into the extensive research they conducted with paranormal investigator Lorraine Warren, played by Farmiga in the film.
She and Wilson will be back as Lorraine and Ed Warren, with the story focusing on another of their real-life haunting cases, though the exact details and title for the second film have yet to be revealed. Also uncertain right now is a director, as Wan is both busy dealing with Fast & Furious 7 and has indicated he’s ready to give horror a rest. He’ll certainly have a hand in selecting a new occupant of the big folding chair, however.
Also headed our way is the spin-off, currently tentatively titled The Annabelle Story. It’ll serve as a prequel to the events we saw at the start of** The Conjuring**, in which the titular creepy doll starts acting up in the apartment of three roommates: moving apparently of its own volition and reacting badly when its freaked owners try to throw it out. The story is really only tangential to the main Conjuring narrative, but it sets up some context for Ed and Lorraine. John R. Leonetti, who served as cinematographer on The Conjuring, is directing that one right now, which is set to hit the US on October 3 this year.